Neve flicked her hair back and glared at the wall. He’d come back from seeing Lyssa, depressed and feeling displaced, only to find the egg meeting was over. The egg presentation—the presentation he’d worked for months to prepare—had been nicely hijacked by the love of his life. He’d sat and stewed all afternoon, tasting bile and wondering quite where he’d gone wrong in life.

‘I shouldn’t discuss this with you,’ Neve said.

‘It’s my bloody project!’

‘This is confidential,’ she continued, ignoring his protest. ‘Alec is concerned about you.’

Jake pushed himself up on his elbow. ‘About me?’

Neve lowered her eyes. ‘He doesn’t think you’ve been giving work one hundred per cent commitment.’

‘I’ve had a lot on my mind,’ Jake said. ‘As well you know.’

‘I think he’s caught wind about us too,’ she admitted. ‘There’s been some gossip in the office. I think some of the guys know.’

Jake sagged back. This was dreadful news. Alec had never liked him and always seemed to be looking for some reason to hang him out to dry. An affair with Neve could be just the ammunition he was looking for. Then again, in a rather perverse way, Jake was glad that the guys in the office knew he was shacked up with Neve. Despite her sleight of hand in whipping one of his projects out from under his nose, she was one hot chick. There would be some very green faces at Dunston & Bradley when this became common knowledge.

‘I did this because I didn’t want you to make any stupid mistakes in front of him,’ Neve said. She sounded earnest enough. ‘The last presentation was a stinker, Jake. And you know it.’

Neve was right. He was lucky that Alec hadn’t taken the project off him there and then. He was going to have to get back on track at the office, otherwise they would be making him hit the road. All day long his mind had been drifting to Lyssa and wondering what she was doing now. She should be there by now, ready to start her new adventure—without him. He only hoped that she’d be okay.

Neve stood up, stretching her long legs. There had been no mention of going to the gym tonight. ‘I’ll make us some cappuccino,’ she said. Jake couldn’t get up any enthusiasm. ‘Or shall we have some champagne?’

‘Neither for me,’ he said.

Neve slid onto his lap and twined her fingers through his hair. She kissed along the edge of his jaw, her hot breath teasing up towards his ear. ‘What about an early night?’